October 24, 2016

Rahman Dahlan, spitting upwards?

When Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan was moved to a higher portfolio as the Minister in charge of Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister’s Department, many asked whether he was fit for the job, seeing that he did not do much of a job as a Minister of the Housing, Urban Development and Local Government. He was replaced by Selangor Umno leader Datuk Seri Noh Omar.

Rahman Dahlan has always been a BN loyalist, even when it took a beating to his logic and intelligence and yet, he continues as a loyalist.

He is also known to be a twitter-mania and does not mind engaging in social-media wars to earn brownie points from Barisan Nasional leaders, more so from the PM.

Yet, sometimes, even the loyalist can be a bane than a boon to the one he supports, especially when he keeps shooting his own feet and stepping on other people’s feet.

Now, it has finally been revealed how he is going to use his appointment as the Minister in charge of EPU, for this is the point from which government would endorse the companies which may work with them.

And Rahman Dahlan, seeing that he thinks his portfolio was given to him because he was a loyalist is using the EPU to launch his request for brownie points.

He has lashed out that the companies receiving government contracts but support illegal assemblies to topple government will be blacklisted.

Rahman Dahlan said he would instruct the EPU and the Public Private Partnership Unit (UKAS) to review the backgrounds of these companies.

He also claimed that the opposition state governments Penang and Selangor too blacklist companies which are BN-friendly.

Now, Rahman Dahlan, even if the opposition does this, does it make it right for you to do so? A wrong is a wrong is a wrong.

Companies are businesses and it should not mix with politics, at least seen not to be so, although we all know how it works.

Even if you want politicise business dealings with politics and government, do it quietly, on the sly. Be smart, not go and shoot off your mouth by saying that you will blacklist anyone who has an opinion. You will end up only with saliva on your face and some spit may just splatter the poor PM who never instructed you to spit upwards.

It is in the constitution for the freedom of speech and we are all free Malaysians, free to think for ourselves, to vote, to gather and to voice our opinion about the government. If I have a company that gets an order for 100,000 T-shirts for Bersih and I take the business deal, you have no right to blacklist me for that, for that is my right to decide, as long as I am not endangering the country in any way.

As much as we disagree with you, Rahman Dahlan, you too have the right to say what you want, but when you start foaming at the mouth and going against the very constitution on which this country stands, you have lost that right.

Retract back what you have said about the blacklisting and swallow it. You have no right to do so. Most of all, you bring shame to the very government you represent.